Relations with US comfortable and positive, says India’s foreign secretary S Jaishankar

India’s relationship with the Trump administration in the US is relatively comfortable and positive, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said today.

“The aspect of our relationship with new administration in the US, you would have noticed that quite a few countries have somewhat rough experience, there are reasons for it…,” Jaishankar said in response to a question at a lecture here.

“But we were in a relatively comfortable zone because at the time when US itself is saying that the responsibilities of the world need to be more equally shared, here is a country which is fully stepping on its own, with which the US is more comfortable.”

“Actually the entire tenor of the relationship is very much more convivial, very positive,” Jaishankar added.

The foreign secretary was speaking after delivering the K Subramanyam Memorial Lecture organised by the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) here.

Jaishankar is the son of Subramanyam, who is considered the “doyen” of Indian strategic thinking.

He also advocated that “we in India develop awareness about the expectations that the world has on us.” Responding to a question on changes that China has gone through in the last two decades, Jaishankar said over 20 years they have performed better than expected at …read more